The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an old soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II in 1682, it is a 66-acre (27 ha) site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, London. It is an independent charity and relies partly upon donations to cover day-to-day running costs to provide care and accommodation for veterans. Residents are known as Chelsea Pensioners. The gardens of the Royal Hospital are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
History
King Charles II founded the Royal Hospital as a retreat for veterans in 1682. The initiative is said to have come from Nell Gwyn according to Peter Cunningham's "The Story of Nell Gwyn" [1851]. The tradition was perpetuated when her portrait was used as a sign for a public house in Grosvenor Row (a thoroughfare which disappeared in the 19th century). The provision of a hostel rather than the payment of pensions was inspired by Les Invalides in Paris. The site for the Royal Hospital was an area of Chelsea, London which held an incomplete building "Chelsey College", a theological college James I founded in 1609.
The precursor to the foundation was the establishment in 1677 of pensions for "Reformed Officers (i.e. officers of disbanded regiments) and maimed soldiers". The main inspirational force behind the foundation of the hospital was Sir Stephen Fox (1627–1716), Paymaster of the Forces and a trusted and able royal administrator of the King, and in 1681 Fox and the king initiated plans for a permanent hospital for disabled soldiers. Letters patent were issued on 22 December 1681 notifying the king's intention of building "an hospital for the relief of such land soldiers as are, or shall be, old, lame, or infirm in ye service of the crowne". For this purpose he appointed as "Receiver General and Treasurer of the moneys raised for the erection and maintenance of the hospital" Nicholas Johnson (d.1682), Fox's brother-in-law and successor as Paymaster of the Forces. The office of "Receiver or Paymaster and Treasurer" was held by all subsequent Paymaster of the Forces until the latter office was abolished in 1836. Fox himself, the "richest commoner in the three kingdoms", donated £13,000 towards the new hospital (equivalent to £2,436,000 in 2025). The Royal Hospital opened its doors to the Chelsea Pensioners in 1692 for "the relief and succour" of veterans. Some of the first soldiers admitted included those injured at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Wren expanded his original design to add two additional quadrangles to the east and west of the central court; these were known respectively as the "Light Horse Court" and the "College Court". Due to mismanagement by Lord Ranelagh, the Hospital Treasurer, the building was not completed until 1692.
Sir John Soane, who was clerk of works in the early part of the 19th century, designed and constructed a new infirmary building which was located to the west of the main building on the site of the current National Army Museum and was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. It was replaced by a modern infirmary which was located to the east of the main building and opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1961. The 1960s infirmary was demolished to make way for the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary which was designed by Sir Quinlan Terry and was completed in 2008, providing a state-of-the-art care home.
In 2002, the sovereign's mace was presented to the hospital – up until then, the hospital had had no colours or distinctive device – the mace is now carried at all the ceremonial events at the hospital. The mace was designed by Charles Webb and Aubrey Bowden and was made by Master Goldsmith Norman Bassant. The bowl of the mace is decorated with acorns and is surmounted by the St Edward's Crown. In March 2009, the first women in the hospital's 317-year history were admitted as In-Pensioners. Winifred Phillips and Dorothy Hughes were the first. Winifred Phillips trained as a nurse and later joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1948 before enlisting in the Women's Royal Army Corps in 1949 while serving in Egypt. After 22 years of service she retired with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2. Dorothy Hughes had joined the British Army in 1941 aged 18, later working as part of 450 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery in the London Division. In 1945 the Battery was deployed near Dover to defend against V1 flying bomb attacks. She retired with the rank of Sergeant.
Uniform Chelsea Pensioners are entitled to come and go from the Royal Hospital as they please, and are permitted to wear civilian clothing wherever they travel. However, within the hospital, and in the surrounding area, pensioners are encouraged to wear a blue uniform (known fondly as "blues"). If they travel farther from the Royal Hospital they should wear the distinctive scarlet coats instead of the blue uniform. The scarlet coats are also worn for ceremonial occasions, accompanied by tricorne hats. (At other times a peaked shako is worn.) In uniform, the pensioners wear their medal ribbons and the insignia of rank they reached while serving in the military. They may also wear other insignia they earned during their service and many pensioners now wear parachute jump wings and even SAS jump wings. Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to impersonate a Chelsea pensioner; the myth probably dates from a ruling, repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008, regarding the fraud of taking an unearned pension. There is a legend that Nell Gwynne, Charles II's mistress, suggested red coats for the Chelsea Pensioners because she remembered the pensioners of Coningsby Hospital in Hereford (her reputed birth town) wore coats of the same colour.
Founder's Day The Royal Hospital Founder's Day takes place close to 29 May each year – the birthday of Charles II of England, and the date of his restoration as King in 1660. It is also known as Oak Apple Day, as it commemorates the escape of the future King following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, when he hid in the Royal Oak to avoid capture by Parliamentary forces. On Founder's Day, in-pensioners of the Royal Hospital are reviewed by a member of the British royal family.
Statue of King Charles II
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